Document clamp

ABSTRACT

Elongated rigid leg members are pivotally connected to one another at their ends and provided with oppositely facing magnetic elements for clamping opposite sides of a sheet of paper or the like. Two center members may be hinged together at one end with an additional member pivoted to the other end of each of the two center members to permit folding about mutually perpendicular axes. The device is used primarily to clamp open large documents such as blueprints and the like that are normally stored in a rolled condition. The members are placed in opposing parallel relationship on either side of the document and extended along the document length so that the magnetic members will coact to clamp the document in a flat, open condition.

United States Patent [19] Evans [4 1 Feb. 19, 1974 1 DOCUMENT CLAMP [76] Inventor: Richard L. Evans, 33 Monsignor Reynolds Way, Boston, Mass. 02118 [52] US. Cl. 24/248 PC, 24/73 MS, 33/105 [51] Int. Cl. A44b 21/00, G0lb 31/06 [58] Field ofSearch ..24/73 MS, 248 F, 248 L, 24/248 PC, 248 R, 243 P, 67.5; 33/DIG. l, 2 H, 105, 106

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,098,571 6/1914 Haase 33/105 1,428,900 9/1922 Oppenheimer... 24/248 PC X 2,702,683 2/1955 Green et al. 24/73 MS X 3,196,548 7/1965 Moore 33/DIG. l UX 3,529,328 9/1970 Davisonu... I 24/73 MS UX 3,656,213 4/1972 McNeely 33/2 H UX FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 247,857 2/1926 Great Britain 33/105 288,089 4/1928 Great Britain 24/248 F Primary Examiner-Donald A. Griffin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Morse, Altman, Oates & Bello 57 ABSTRACT Elongated rigid leg members are pivotally connected to one another at their ends and provided with oppositely facing magnetic elements for clamping opposite sides of a sheet of paper or the like. Two center members may be hinged together at one end with an additional member pivoted to the other end of each of the two center members to permit folding about mutually perpendicular axes. The device is used primarily to Clamp open large documents such as blueprints and the like that are normally stored in a rolled condition The members are placed in opposing parallel relationship on either side of the document and extended along the document length so that the magnetic members will coact to clamp the document in a flat, open condition.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB 1 9M 3,792.51 1

34 F/G: I 20 I 49 28 30 1 DOCUMENT CLAMP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to paper clamping devices and more particularly is directed towards a novel device for temporarily clamping rolled documents in a flat, open condition.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is common practice for large paper documents such as blueprints, engineering drawings, or the like, to be rolled up for storage when not in use. While the rolled document is quite compact and may be easily shipped or stored in a tube, for example, it is somewhat difficult to handle when the document is unrolled for study. A document that has been rolled for any length of time has a strong tendency to.roll itself up after it has been unrolled. If the'document is laid out on a table or the like, the corners must be taped down or weighted. In the field, however, this is not practical and those attempting to study the document are faced with the problem of trying to maintain the document in a reasonably flat, open condition to permit inspection. Heretofore, there has been no satisfactory meansfor temporarily stabilizing a rolled document in a flat, open condition.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, portable, compact device for use in clamping documents, particularly large, rolled documents, in a flat, open condition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention features a device for clamping sheet material such as blueprints or the like, comprising a plurality of elongated, rigid members articulated in end-to-end relation and provided with cooperative spaced magnetic elements adapted to clamp against opposite sides of the sheet when one member is disposed in parallel opposition to another member. In the preferred embodiment two elongated members are joined in end-to-end relation by a hinge for angular motion about one axis and another member is pivotally connected to each of the hinged members by pivot connections for angular adjustment about axes perpendicular to the hinge axis. The magnetic elements preferably are mounted in oppositely facing relation to the outer end of the hinged members and to the outer ends of the pivoted members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, the reference character generally indicates a clamping device for use particularly with a large document 12 such as a blueprint, engineering drawing, architectural renderings, or

showing the device in the like, and especially with those which have been stored in a rolled condition. The device 10 of the illustrated embodiment is comprised of four elongated, rigid members l4, 16, 18 and 20, preferably in the form of straight flat legs of rectangular cross-section and typically fabricated from a stiff material such as wood, rigid plastic, metal or the like. The legs may be of any selected length although the outer legs 14. and 20 should be of equal length as should be the inner legs 16 and 18. In practice, a leg length of three feet each would be suitable for use with a broad range of document sizes.

The leg members 16 and 18 are connected at one end by means of a hinge 22. The hinge plates are set into the ends of the members so that they are flush with the flat surfaces of the members. In this fashion, the opposing leg members 16 and 18 will lie flat against one another when in a closed or folded position. The axis of the hinge 22 is perpendicular to the length of the members and parallel to their flat faces. At the outer ends of the leg members 16 and 18 cooperative magnetic elements 24 and 26 are mounted in opposite relation. The magnetic elements 24 and 26 may each be magnetic or one may be magneticand the other be a-magnetically attractive material such as iron or the like. In any event, the magnetic elements are positioned in registered opposition so as to be attracted to one another when the hinged legs 16 and 18 are folded or against one another. Preferably the magnetic elements 24 and 26 are set into the ends of the leg members 16 and 18 so that their exposed faces are flush with the flat inner faces of the leg members 16 and, l8.

Pivotally connected to the outer ends of the inner leg members 16 and 18 are the leg members 14 and 20. These outer leg members are .connected by pivot pins 28 and 30 to permit angular movement about axes perpendicular to the axis of the hinge 22 whereby the outer leg members 14 and 20 may be folded flat against the inner leg members 16 and 18, as suggested in FIG. 1, or in an alternate angular position such as perpendicular thereto, as in FIG. 3, or fully extended in a parallel position as in FIG. 5. This pivoting connection permits the extension of the device without impairing the longitudinal rigidity needed for holding the document 12 in a flat condition. In the illustrated embodiment, the

outer leg members 14 and 20 are equal in length with the inner leg members 16 and 18 and the outer leg members are provided at their ou'terends with inwardly facing opposing magnetic elements 32 and 34. Here, again the magnetic elements 32 and 34 may both be magnets or one may be a magnet while the other is magnetically attractive. The elements are imbedded in the ends of the members so that their outer surfaces are flush with one another. The elements 32 and 34 thus are adapted to be attracted to one another when positioned oppositely one another on either side of the document 12 to aid in the clamping of the document as suggested in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 To further enhance the utility of the device, the legs may be inscribed with measuringindicia 36 to permit the use of the device as a ruler, for example. Alternatively, one of the legs may be provided with a slide scale suitably marked so that one leg will function as'a slide rule to permit the user to perform computations while the device is holding the document in place.

The device may be used in a variety of ways with a typical application being shown in FIG. 5 where the document 12 is unrolled and the legs 16 and 18 are slipped over the long edge of the document extending parallel to the short edge thereof. The legs 14 and 20 are pivoted at an angle perpendicular to the legs 16 and 18 to extend along the lower long edge of the document. In this position, the magnetic elements are located opposite one another and will hold the legs tightly against the document, clamping it in a firm, stable condition. This will prevent the document from rolling back up into a tube as well as weighting the document against being blown by the wind if the document is in the open air. The FIG. 3 position is used where the document 12 is not particularly long or where only a portion of a longer document is to be studied. Where a long document is to be studied at full length, the device may be unfolded to its maximum length as suggested in FIG. with the members 14 and 20 extended into a position parallel to the members 16 and 18 and clamped over the short edge of the document to extend parallel to the long edge.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to the preferred embodiment numerous modifications thereto will appear to thoseskilled in the art. For example, additional legs, each with cooperating magnetic elements, may be added to the device to increase the length thereof.

Having thus described the invention what I claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent of the United States l. A clamp for stabilizing a sheet of paper or the like comprising a. a first pair of rigid elongated members hinged together at one end,

b. said first members being of equal length,

c. a first pair of magnetically cooperative elements mounted one each in opposing relation to said first members whereby said first members will clamp said sheet when said sheet is interposed between said first members,

d. a second pair of rigid elongated members connected to said first pair of members, one of each of said second members being pivotally connected in end to end relation to one of each of said first pair of members about an axis perpendicular to the hinge axis, and,

e. a second pair of magnetically cooperative elements mounted one each in opposing relation to said second members.

2. A clamp according to claim 1 including measuring indicia on at least one of said legs. =l 

1. A clamp for stabilizing a sheet of paper or the like comprising a. a first pair of rigid elongated members hinged together at one end, b. said first members being of equal length, c. a first pair of magnetically cooperative elements mounted one each in opposing relation to said first members whereby said first members will clamp said sheet when said sheet is interposed between said first members, d. a second pair of rigid elongated members connected to said first pair of members, one of each of said second members being pivotally connected in end to end relation to one of each of said first pair of members about an axis perpendicular to the hinge axis, and, e. a second pair of magnetically cooperative elements mounted one each in opposing relation to said second members.
 2. A clamp according to claim 1 including measuring indicia on at least one of said legs. 